Some of B.C.’s biggest cities are using artificial intelligence — but what for?

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly common in all kinds of sectors, some of B.C.’s largest municipalities are looking at ways the technology can benefit their work in a variety of ways.

From summarizing reports and writing emails to early wildfire detection and identifying contaminated garbage, cities are turning to AI to increase “staff productivity” and “administrative efficiency.”

CBC News surveyed the largest cities in B.C. by population to find out how they’re using artificial intelligence — and what kind of policies are in place to ensure the safety of residents’ data.

What AI is being used for

Vancouver, which laid out some information on its AI use in a task force report earlier this month, said workers can use AI tools to generate documents and presentations, summarize emails and documents and analyze financial trends.

Several cities said AI is helping them speed up the development permit review process; Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby are using AI to pre-screen certain building or development applications by reviewing permit applications and flagging discrepancies or missing items before manually reviewing them.

Burnaby’s IT department is looking at using AI-driven cybersecurity against AI threats, and its fire department recently started using AI for wildfire detection.

In Richmond, the city used GitHub Copilot to develop its new election mobile app, according to a spokesperson.

Surrey is exploring AI to identify contamination in residential garbage collection, as well as road hazards for proactive maintenance.

Some cities are also using AI chatbots.

Vancouver has a general assistance chatbot, while the City of Surrey has one to answer questions about waste collection and recycling, and another for questions about building and renovating.

What services are cities using?

Most of the cities (Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby and Abbotsford) said Microsoft’s Copilot is a approved for staff use.

Microsoft Canada told CBC News it provides resources on using AI responsibly and has a webpage on using Copilot in government, but it is up to governments to establish their own standards for AI use.

Richmond staff have access to Copilot, but it hasn’t been deployed organization-wide. Instead, it uses GovAI, a “purpose-built front-end for government bodies that runs on the OpenAI model on the back end, with added privacy protections and administrative controls.”

Richmond is also assessing Anthropic’s Claude, adding that many of its existing software products now include AI features.

What guardrails are in place?

None of the municipalities would share their AI policies or guidelines for staff, but some said existing policies, such as those around privacy, information security and electronic communication, govern AI use.

Burnaby, Richmond and Coquitlam have AI-specific policies or guidelines in the works.

Abbotsford said it has a policy on generative AI that requires human oversight. Employees must verify outputs are accurate and respectful and cannot rely on generative AI exclusively to “make or recommend public body decisions that may affect and individual or business or could have financial or legal consequences.”

Vancouver said staff aren’t allowed to enter personal, confidential, privileged or other sensitive city information into unauthorized public AI services.

Expert weighs in

A survey by Simon Fraser University found that respondents from B.C. are increasingly concerned about government agencies using AI to make critical decisions.

Wendy H. Wong, a professor of political science at UBC Okanagan, said it’s important to consider what happens to the data.

There can be be unintended consequences when it comes to sharing data, she said. For example, if a city staffer uploads an email sent by a resident to an AI system, their personal information could be shared, unintentionally.

But she’s optimistic about other uses, noting that chatbots could save staff from repeatedly answering the same set of questions about things like building permits.

That said, she recommended elected officials and bureaucrats reflect on whether or not certain AI tools are really needed — as she expects the cost of AI services to increase after the initial rush to adopt the technology.

“Maybe now is the time to say, well, what do we actually need it for?”

She said cities have power when it comes to procuring technology and can make demands of the platforms.

“They need to assert not only democratic values, but our rights as Canadians.”